Acer's Windows mixed reality headset dev kits shipping this month

Low-cost headset to be paired with a Windows 10 PC.

Last year, Microsoft announced that it was partnering with a handful of device makers to develop a range of mixed-reality headsets. Today, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the company announced that dev kits of Acer's mixed-reality headset would be shipping later this month.

Acer's is the first of these "Windows Mixed Reality" headsets—it features two 1440 x 1440 liquid crystal displays, a native refresh rate of up to 90 Hz, and connects via HDMI 2.0 (for the display) and USB 3.0 (for data). It has built-in audio out and microphone support through a 3.5mm jack.

Microsoft's mixed reality headsets use inside-out tracking, which means they don't require external trackers or sensors such as the HTC Vive's Lighthouse tracking. They're designed to be paired with a "mixed reality-ready" Windows PC, unlike Microsoft's own HoloLens headset, which is a self-contained unit (and costs $3,000). Other Windows mixed-reality headsets are in development from Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and 3Glasses. Microsoft previously announced that these headsets will start at $299.

Microsoft is hoping developers will build a wide range of content for these MR headsets, including games. Devs interested in building content for them can sign up for ID@Xbox. For more info about Microsoft's vision for mixed reality, check out the video below: